Passenger s Charter Our commitment to providing a safe, high quality service to you. Valid from 1 June 2015 until further notice
Contents The Charter Standards Keeping you informed Meeting the needs of customers with disabilities What happens when things go wrong? How to contact us How to contact Transport Focus or London TravelWatch National Rail Conditions of Carriage 1 2 4 5 7 10 12 12 The Charter This is the Passenger s Charter for West Coast Trains Ltd, which operates under the name of Virgin Trains. It sets out our commitment to give you the safe, high quality service you have the right to expect. Any passenger purchasing a ticket for use on services operated by Virgin Trains should enjoy: A reliable and punctual journey Clean and safe trains and stations A Customer Service team member onboard each train to be available to provide help if required A refreshment service on most trains A seat if reserved in advance Copies of this Passenger s Charter will be available at all major stations used by Virgin Trains, from our Customer Relations team and our website virgintrains.com Virgin Trains employees We are committed to providing excellent customer service. Our staff are our most important asset and have the opportunity to make a positive difference to your journey. At all times, we expect our staff to be smartly dressed and to respond to passengers in an efficient, considerate and courteous manner. We expect them to carry out their duties in a professional manner and to make every reasonable effort to deal effectively with customer problems on the spot. We are all aware that without you, our customers, we do not have a railway. Customer care We commit to achieving the high standards of service associated with the Virgin brand. We rely on well motivated and fully trained people to realise this, and all Virgin Trains staff receive on-going full training in customer care and related issues. We are also committed to co-operation with other train operators to provide you with as seamless a journey as possible. Independent market research is undertaken through the National Rail Passenger Survey twice per year by Transport Focus to obtain unbiased evidence of customer satisfaction levels. Information gathered is used to guide service improvements and new product development, and is published at all major stations used by Virgin Trains. 3 1
Standards In setting the standards outlined in the Charter, we give you, as well as ourselves, the means to judge our performance. If our performance falls short of our set targets we will take the action outlined in the Charter. We believe the Charter is an evolving document, and are committed to an ongoing review of standards and targets with Transport Focus, London TravelWatch and the Department for Transport. Performance standards Our aim is to operate a punctual and reliable train service. We have adopted the Public Performance Measure (PPM) which is a national rail industry standard to measure this. This is the percentage of all Virgin trains that arrive at their final destination within ten minutes of the advertised time, having called at all the advertised stops. When a specially-advertised revised timetable is in operation, for example at times of engineering work, we will be measured against the revised times. Ticket office queueing times At ticket offices and Travel Centres which we manage, we will, in normal circumstances, ensure that you are served within five minutes, or within three minutes at less busy times. We will display details of when ticket office queues are likely to be longest at all the stations we operate. Getting a seat We will make every effort to match seats to demand and will provide a seat when a reservation has been made. See the Keeping you informed section which explains what we will do when this is not possible. 2 3
Keeping you informed Planning your journey We will give you impartial information on journey planning and ticket prices through our own outlets and National Rail Enquiries 03457 48 49 50. Calls to National Rail Enquiries may be monitored. Information on National Rail products, timetables and up to the minute train running information is also available through the National Rail website nationalrail.co.uk. Free Virgin Trains extracts from the timetable and timetable cards will also be made available at all staffed stations used by Virgin Trains. Information about changes to the timetable can be obtained from our stations or National Rail Enquiries 03457 48 49 50 and through our website virgintrains.com. Buying your ticket We want tickets to be easy to buy. Tickets for Virgin Trains journeys can be bought online at virgintrains.com. Tickets can also be bought by calling Virgin Trains on 0871 977 4222, at stations, and from rail appointed travel agents and we will sell impartially where we are the operator of such outlets. Reservations No charge will be made for seat reservations on any of our trains. If, for any reason, we cannot honour your seat reservation, we will try to find you another seat on the train. If this is not possible and you have to stand for more than fifteen minutes of the journey, we will give you National Rail vouchers to the value of 5% or more of the price paid for that journey which you can use when you make a future train journey. Timetables The current Virgin Trains timetable will be available at all staffed stations used by our trains. In severe weather, railways often continue to operate when roads and airports are closed. However, speeds may be reduced, delays can build up and schedules may be disrupted. To minimise the disruption we have emergency timetables and will use them on the basis of weather forecasts or local conditions. We will tell you as much in advance as we can before these emergency timetables come into operation through our website virgintrains.com, and National Rail Enquiries 03457 48 49 50 or nationalrail.co.uk. We will try to ensure that other operators of staffed stations at which our trains call keep you informed by using notice board displays, or where available, the public address system and television monitors. Engineering work Essential engineering work may mean alterations to services. We will try to give at least 28 days notice of any planned alterations to our services and as much notice as possible of any emergency engineering work. Onboard catering We are committed to providing a drink and snack service on most of our trains. If, for any reason, we are unable to do so we will endeavour to warn you before you join the train if you board at a staffed station. Meeting the needs of customers with disabilities If you have, or someone travelling with you has, a mobility impairment or other disability and will need help during your journey, on the train or at stations, please try to let us know at least 24 hours in advance by calling the Virgin Trains JourneyCare Reservation Service on 08000 158 123 or 08000 158 124 for textphone users, between 08.00 and 22.00 every day, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day. We will also ensure that arrangements are made to ease your onward journey. Where we can, we will help customers with a mobility impairment or other disability on and off trains without prior arrangements please ask our staff on trains and at stations. National Rail Enquiries provide a textphone service for general timetable enquiries on 0345 60 50 600. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Calls may be monitored. A copy of our Disabled People s Protection Policy may be obtained by contacting our Customer Relations Manager. See the How to contact us section for details. 4 5
What happens when things go wrong? All our people involved in running Virgin Trains will do their best to ensure that the service meets and, we hope, surpasses expectations and Passenger s Charter standards. We realise, however, that things do occasionally go wrong. When they do we will do our best to put things right. While it is appropriate that we outline the specific commitments below, most importantly we promise always to treat all our customers with care and respect. Looking after you when services are delayed Our people are trained to identify and resolve any journey difficulties you may have. Sometimes problems occur outside our control that affect your journey. We will do our best to advise you of any delays as they occur before you join one of our trains. If you are travelling with Virgin Trains and are delayed for more than one hour waiting for a train at a station, we will, where possible, provide you with vouchers for free non-alcoholic drinks. If your train is cancelled and the subsequent train is two or more hours later, transport will be provided to the nearest railway station that can conveniently be used to enable you to reach your destination station, or, at our discretion, your actual destination. Where onward travel on the same day is not possible (either by train or by suitable alternative transport) we will provide overnight hotel accommodation. We will make every effort to ensure your comfort as soon as we are aware of any problems, and will keep you informed of developments. Where facilities are available, we will provide you with a covered waiting area with seats and refreshments. If you have already joined our train and it is delayed for 30 minutes or more we will provide complimentary non-alcoholic drinks until stocks are exhausted, and keep you informed of developments. We will give you full information about any delay to your train at regular intervals during your journey, as well as regular announcements giving the planned station stops and approaching stations. Our onboard Customer Service team will help you with onward journey planning. Announcements of the delay will be made at staffed stations along the route and will appear on Customer Information Screens. We will pass information to people meeting our customers where possible. 7
In the event that disruption to the service causes delay, we will: Get you to your destination station Arrange alternative transport where this is not practical and appropriate If your onward journey is not possible, get you back to your originating station Make appropriate arrangements for stranded passengers Compensation If your train is delayed or cancelled, or a delay or cancellation of a Virgin train causes a delay to your overall journey, you may be entitled to claim compensation. If not, we will consider claims on an ex-gratia basis. We do not normally accept claims in cases where trains are delayed if you were notified of the delay before you purchased your ticket and you still decide to travel. We will, however, consider each case on its own merits. Our Delay Repay scheme means that if you hold a ticket for a single or return journey you can claim compensation for a delay of 30 minutes or more, irrespective of what caused the delay. If you are delayed by; 30 59 minutes We will pay you compensation to the value of 50% of the cost of your single ticket or 50% of the cost of the relevant portion * of your return ticket. 60 119 minutes We will pay you compensation to the value of 100% of the cost of your single ticket or 100% of the cost of the relevant portion * of your return ticket. 120 minutes or longer We will pay you compensation to the value of 100% of the cost of your single ticket or 100% of the cost of your return ticket (i.e. both portions not just one way). *by relevant portion we mean either the outward or return portion of a return ticket, depending upon whether you were delayed on your outward or return journey. Season Tickets If you are a Season Ticket holder, you will be refunded the proportionate cost of the price of the ticket. If you would like to know how this is calculated, please contact our Customer Relations team. If you have a weekly Season Ticket, please send it along with your form, once it has expired. If you have a monthly or longer Season Ticket, please include a photocopy of it with your completed form. Normally, we provide compensation in National Rail travel vouchers which can be used to buy train tickets for travel with all train companies, within 12 months. Passengers can also request cash (as a cheque) instead if they prefer. Should a period of sustained poor performance on peak services be experienced (this is measured by the number of trains arriving at their final destination within 10 minutes of their scheduled time) we will consider compensating Season Ticket holders over and above the arrangements outlined above. In doing so, we will consult Transport Focus and London TravelWatch. If we have had to introduce an emergency timetable, these compensation arrangements will be based upon the emergency timetable. For the purposes of this paragraph, peak services are those Monday to Friday services arriving in London Euston between 07.00 and 09.59 and departing London Euston between 16.00 and 18.59 excluding Bank Holidays. If you want to make a claim, please complete a FreePost Delay Repay form, available on trains, or from staffed stations and provide your ticket or a photocopy if it is a Season Ticket as proof of the journey. Alternatively, follow the online procedure via our website virgintrains.com/delayrepay. You must make your claim within 28 days of the delayed journey. If you have been delayed and your destination station has automatic ticket gates, please show your ticket to a member of gateline staff and say you need to keep the ticket. They will open a gate for you. Refunds Immediate refund If the train you planned to catch is delayed or cancelled and you decide not to travel, we will give you a full refund, immediately if possible, if you return your ticket to any ticket office. This applies regardless of the ticket type or where it was bought. Alternatively you may claim a full refund by writing to our Customer Relations Manager. Refund later (This is not applicable to certain Advance tickets). If you decide for some reason other than train cancellation or delay not to use a ticket you have bought, you can apply for a refund at any staffed station. In this case, we may charge an administration fee (normally 10). If you bought your ticket through a travel agent, you should return it to the agent, who will arrange a refund. 8 9
How to contact us To make it easier for you to claim, or to make a comment or complaint about any aspect of our service, forms will be readily available at staffed stations where our trains call and from our onboard Customer Service team. Posters will also be displayed at stations and on trains telling you what to do and where to write. We will reply within ten working days and respond in full within 28 days. We welcome comments or complaints on any aspect of our service. Please contact our Customer Relations team via any of the ways listed below. Please contact our Customer Relations team via any of the ways listed below. For the fastest response to written correspondence we recommend the web option : Web virgintrains.com/contact Phone 03331 031 031 Telephones are staffed between 08:30 and 18.00 Mondays to Fridays and between 09:00 and 16:00 on Saturdays. These hours may vary slightly over the Christmas and New Year period. Email Address customer.relations@virgintrains.co.uk Customer Relations Virgin Trains Freepost RRAE-UJZZ-ESUR PO BOX 713 Birmingham B5 4HH Fax 0121 654 7500 Textphone 0121 654 7538 Our Customer Relations team is not available on Christmas Day or Boxing Day. In the event that you write to us and the claim is actually against another Operator, we will ensure that your letter is sent on to the appropriate party, and advise you of this. 10 10 11
How to contact Transport Focus or London TravelWatch If you are not satisfied with our response, please write to Transport Focus or London TravelWatch, as applicable, which are independent bodies set up by Parliament to protect the interests of passengers. Address Transport Focus Freepost RTEH-XAGE-BYKZ PO BOX 5594 Southend on Sea SS1 9PZ Phone 0300 123 2350 Fax 08458 501 392 Web transportfocus.org.uk Email advice@transportfocus.org.uk For passengers whose journeys originate from either London Euston or Watford Junction, please contact: Address London TravelWatch 169 Union Street London, SE1 0LL Phone 020 3176 2999 Fax 020 3176 5991 Web londontravelwatch.org.uk Email enquiries@londontravelwatch.org.uk National Rail Conditions of Carriage The Charter sets out our commitment to you and to raising our standards. It does not create any new legal relationship with you as a result of what we say we will do, nor does it adversely affect your legal rights. These are set out in the National Rail Conditions of Carriage which can be obtained at all staffed stations or from our Customer Relations Manager. 12 13
Routes may vary at weekends. Please check before you travel. virgintrains.com @virgintrains virgintrains Published by West Coast Trains Limited, subsidiary of the Virgin Rail Group Limited. Registered in England No. 3007940. Registered Office: The Battleship Building, 179 Harrow Road, London W2 6NB. Details correct at time of going to press. Online version updated November 2015. 14